How Can We Make Tech More Inclusive? This 23-Year-Old Is Fighting For Change

Like all bright, brilliant prodigies, Alexis Williams found her calling at a very young age. In her adolescence, as part of a STEM summer program designed to educate and inspire young women, she was introduced to the world of computer science and coding — and she discovered, through ones and zeroes, she could take this language and essentially create anything she wanted. 

“I came across coding at that age where everything seemed magical,” says the 23-year-old New Jersey-raised, Brooklyn-based creative technologist, whose first coding project, at 15, involved making prosthetic fingers move through code. “It was the first time in my life, as someone who grew up with less access and fewer resources, as well as being a young woman in a field where I’m underrepresented in terms of race, gender, and sexuality, that the playing field felt leveled.” 

She matriculated at NYU to pursue a degree in integrated design and media — an engineering core with a focus in web development and sound engineering — and it was there where she really stretched her proverbial legs, flexing her CS skills in such a way that brought her closer to her life’s purpose: to make social impact. She did work around environmental racism and environmental justice; and in May 2020, she launched Progress Building Resources, an all-encompassing automated toolkit that houses free resources: reading materials, donation links, and actionable ways for people to get involved.

“I was thinking, How can I learn more about my community? And how can I give that information to not only those around me, but to people all over the country?” she says. “It’s been my greatest passion: to make things that have helped other people, like me, feel seen. That’s how I found my space. I love combining creativity with social impact.” 

But as much as Williams takes incredible pride in her work during her time in college, she was also woefully unprepared for the shock of feeling displaced and utterly alone as a Black, queer “girly girl” in the tech space. “That was the most challenging chapter in my career to date. In my first year, I would cry every day after my labs, and not because I wasn’t capable — I was always the first person done — but it was the culture,” says Williams, who leaned on social media and candid conversations with close friends for support. “Now, I feel like it's my duty to encourage other young women of color to continue to create these innovations for the rest of us. So many people don’t have resources, and will be harmed in the future from lack of diversity, representation, and equity in computer science, like medicine, policing, housing, or hiring. So, if I can use my skills to be the voice in these rooms that lack voices like mine, I’m going to — but I can’t do it by myself.” 

What’s the first thing you’ve ever coded? “My first project ever was coding prosthetic fingers — I learned how to make hands move. And coding with a real purpose shaped my whole engineering trajectory. Since then, I’ve been creating things that have a sense of impact and social uplift. That’s how I fell in love with coding.”

What’s the most recent thing you’ve coded? “I am obsessed with women’s college basketball, but there wasn’t a site that gave live women’s sports stats and results. I wanted all the real-time rankings and standings for all the teams. Why didn’t that exist? I know if I want it for basketball, surely there must be fans who want it for other sports, so I started coding a platform. It’s not public yet.” 

The one you’re most proud of? “Probably PBR because it’s been my biggest project (over two million people have used it), and it’s also the one I’ve worked on the longest. It was born from thinking, What can I do to be involved? How can I use my skills in computer science for good? I knew I was always going to create tools that’ll uplift the marginalized communities, and I’m lucky that I have two sides of my brain that fire off really well — the engineering and building a product side, and the English side that can disseminate information in a way that people can understand.”

What’s a project that was the most challenging? “Softwear by Lex was my senior thesis — and it’s a conversation piece about e-waste. I repurposed defunct tech and transformed them into wearable, technical pieces that I made with microcontrollers, recycled materials, and 3D printing. That was the hardest to conceptualize and bring together. I'm not a fashion designer, but I love clothes, so I was like, How hard could it be? And it was very difficult, but it was definitely my most creative and the most freeing project.” 

What’s the very first thing you do when you wake up? I scroll on my phone — on TikTok. Let’s call it research.” 

What’s the last thing you do before you go to bed? “Listen to music. I like to sing and dance around in my room.”

When do you do your best coding? “In the middle of the night. I'll have a dream about my code, and if I have a bug or something that really bothered me throughout the day, I’ll solve it in my dream. My brain is just hacking away at it and then I wake up in the middle of the night, and I'm like, I know how to fix it.”

When does inspiration strike? Morning or night? “Random parts of the day. I'm always kind of walking through the world, looking out for problems, and being like, I could create something better than this. Usually, it’s just seeing things throughout the day, but my creativity is always firing off at night.”

What does your workspace look like? “My work space is in my bedroom. It’s a little messy — organized chaos. I know where everything is, but it’s messy. But I have everything I need on my desk, with my big monitor. I have two monitors and six different computers, and I swear I have to use all of them — they all serve a purpose.” 

How did you know you were good at coding? “When I was starting, I was faster than everybody. I might ask a million questions, but once it's explained to me, I got it. I realized that I was good at coding because I would listen to lectures, and I’d start doing my lines of code, and all the other kids would be like, ‘Wait, how do you do that?’ I’d explain it to them, and I realized I was explaining in a way that made sense to other people.”

What do you do when you’re stuck in a rut? “I love going on a run — it’s very mentally freeing. Sometimes I have to get my whole body exhausted to reset myself. When I’ve hit a wall, I’ll stop doing it and switch gears completely. I love to write, meditate, and listen to calm music. Once I’ve calmed my whole body down, I’ll feel like I can attack the task.”

How do you find the motivation to keep going? “It's not easy to get up every single day and feel like every fight is one that you have to put yourself in. I really, really try my best not to get bogged down by hyperfixating on my community and the people directly around me. What I’ve done is be involved in local politics — it’s been helpful to realize that there are so many people around me who are just as passionate as me about finding solutions to our big problems. 

“The state of our world can feel daunting, but I promise if you look to your direct community, there are so many things happening that are marching toward progress.That's where you start seeing a lot of positive change. There is so much sadness in the world, but there’s also so much joy — and when you’re intentional in seeking it out, then the world is just so beautiful.”

What’s one thing you wish to accomplish? “I want to write a book — a multimodal autobiography that has a bit of storytelling, a bit of essay, a bit of poetry, and a bit of found media.  I’ve always wanted to be an author — ever since I was a kid. It’s funny because people ask, ‘How does one go from being an author to being a computer scientist?’ But to be a really great computer scientist, you have to understand language so deeply in order  to tell a computer — which has no cultural or textual understanding of language — what to do. It makes so much sense that I love words and writing, and I put that knowledge into computer science.”

What’s your favorite piece of advice that you’ve gotten? “Do it scared. ‘Do it scared’ is so important because fear is one of the biggest feelings that I feel all the time, but it makes no difference whether you feel completely confident and comfortable about doing something or if you do it scared. Your abilities are the same. The fear is not going away, so you should just sit down and do the thing you wanted to do. I’ve since expanded it to: ‘Do it tired. Do it sad. Do it happy.’” 

Who inspires you the most? “My best friends, Nick and Lydia. They inspire me the most because they’re two of the most ambitious people that I know. Lydia is really good at dreaming up things and making them become a reality, and Nick is one of the most dedicated people that I've ever met in my entire life. Having friends who push you to be the best version of yourself, who know you deeply and know what you're capable of is such a game-changer. I love the idea of people uplifting one another.” 

Who, if anyone, do you try to emulate? “There are so many strong Black women I try to emulate: Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Elaine Welteroth, Aurora James, Michelle Obama, Viola Davis. They all create one massive person that I aspire to be, so all of them.”

What’s something people ask you for advice about often? “I was asked recently: ‘How do you deal with working with people who are different from you?’  The biggest thing I've learned is that no one at any age knows 100% what they're doing. The older I’ve gotten, I’ve learned that most people have no idea what's going on. I found it to be annoying at first, but now it’s very comforting. I can have the most valuable insight in a space and I can contribute in a way that's impactful because we're all sort of figuring it out. Why am I assuming that I'm less qualified, less smart, less engaging just because I have specific attributes that society has deemed less than? The only person who has to believe in me is me, and that’s where the root of all my confidence and my ability to show up as my most authentic self in rooms where I don't feel the most included comes from.”

What’s a piece of advice you felt proud to give? “Patience. That's always been the solution to every problem in my life. Everything is figure out-able. To reflect, come up with a plan, and work toward being the realest version of yourself often just takes time.” 

What is your most-used app on your phone? “TikTok.”

What do you do when you feel yourself burning out? “Honestly, just let loose. When I feel like I'm burning out, I’m like, ‘What's something I can do right now that’s so fun, that’s going to fill me with joy? My friends and I are into activity-based hangouts, like escape rooms and bowling. Just experiencing life and all the things I love and enjoy.”

What’s something you consider a secret weapon? “I’m a good mediator. I’m not scared of hearing something new or different. I'm very rooted in my own morals and principles, but I feel like I'm also very good at having conversations with people who think a lot differently than I do. It’s hard, but it makes you a better person.”

Where are you, compared to where you thought you’d be at 12 years old?  “I thought I was going to be a lawyer. I don't have a traditional nine-to-five, and I’m my own boss, so I would’ve been surprised but also, ‘That’s sick.’” 

If you could change one thing about your professional life, what would it be? “More patience with myself. I also want to be someone with more of a vision. I’ve always been a ‘go with the flow’ kind of girl, and I ended up here. So, I wish I was more of a visionary.”

What’s been your biggest piece of support, helping you get to where you are? “My sisters — I have three sisters. And ever since I was young, they’ve always believed in me. I remember this vividly: We were walking on the street and talking about our futures, and they said I was going to be internet famous, that so many people were going to listen to me, that I was destined to have this specific life. They had all these fantasies about my life — bigger than I do for myself. I love them so, so dearly; they're creating my vision single-handedly.”

What do you do to start your workday? “Coffee.” 

What do you do to end your workday? “Watch an episode of Love Island.”

Why do you code? “I code to teach someone — whether it's one person or a million people — something new. I code to change people's perspectives. I code to bring people resources that they might not have had before. I code to bring the things that we really need for marginalized groups to fruition. I code to be a voice to people who have so often not been listened to.”

What’s one thing you’d change about the tech industry? “I’d destroy the existence of any type of stereotype. There’s such a wealth of people who come from so many different backgrounds and so many different cultures, and they all have something to give. The perpetuation of stereotypes is such a barrier to innovative, inclusive, and groundbreaking solutions because so many people are held back from doing amazing and life-changing work. I'd make it so that anyone can walk into a room and there’d be no preconceived notions, and all we do is put our skills and knowledge together to create as best of a product as we possibly can. No stereotypes, no preconceived notions, just pure ideas flowing and innovation.”

What are you hoping the future of tech will look like? “I want the future of tech to look like what I see when I walk out in the street. I live in Bushwick, and I see people living their most authentic lives. Tech could be more creative, more colorful, and more equitable. And I’m a testament to that — I'm showing that you don't have to fit a certain mold. My greatest superpower is showing up as authentically me in my work as I do in real life. And if tech was a safe enough space, it could be that much more beautiful, that much more inclusive, and that much more innovative.”